There were some genuinely bad refereeing decisions, and the Juve defenders liked Celtic so much they spent half the night cuddling their forwards.

But the refereeing decisions weren't three goals bad.

Juve could have won that fair & square and provided a thrilling and memorable game (in which Celtic got beaten), but they chose to play a dirty game and piss everybody off. I suspect the away leg may get ugly (since Celtic now have nothing to lose).

"I don't mean to sound bitter, cynical and cruel; but I am, so that's how it comes out." Bill Hicks."One should not believe everything one reads on the internet." Abraham Lincoln"Are you OK?" daftbeaker (<-- very good question, people should ask it more often.)

Only optimistic note I can find: Fulham were 3 - 1 down to Juventus a couple of years ago and then went to 4 -1 down at the start of the second leg but somehow they managed to put 4 goals past Juve and won 5 - 4!

The smoke wafted gently in the breeze across the poop deck and all seemed right in the world.

Wales - Italy was frankly poo. Heavy rain, lots of mistakes and almost all the match was kicking or scrapping for the ball. I just had to look at the results table to remind me of the score, 26-9 to Wales, as I fell asleep for the last 20 minutes.

In terms of gameplay the England-France match was a bit better but much more tense. A brilliant French try in the first half from a team that looked transformed from their first two games. The second half started with the French a point in the lead and looking dangerous, then 10 minutes in the French coach took off Trinh-Duc and Parra who had been working well together and generating most of the French chances. England seemed to notice this and upped their game, moving from mainly defence to attacking play after attacking play. Honestly, after the first half I was expecting the French to get a narrow win but, helpfully assisted by their coach making some bone-headed substitutions, England won comfortably 23-13.

The French press are (apparently) not keen on Les Bleus losing and tend to air their disappointment by blaming people. I wouldn't want to be their coach tomorrow morning with the team at the bottom of the table, no points and -25 score difference

Tomorrow could be interesting. If the weather is good I think the Irish will have a win with a reasonable lead of about 15-20 points. If it chucks it down then it could be a much closer game. If the Scots win then the French team are in with a real chance of getting the Wooden Spoon

Too old to give up but too young to rest - Pete Townshend

I would rather be a rising ape than a falling angel - Sir Terry Pratchett

I liked his explanation about what brought him to chemistry as much as the video itself - pieces o'nine

daftbeaker wrote:Tomorrow could be interesting. If the weather is good I think the Irish will have a win with a reasonable lead of about 15-20 points. If it chucks it down then it could be a much closer game. If the Scots win then the French team are in with a real chance of getting the Wooden Spoon

Well, I was wrong but for the right reasons. Good weather and a decent pitch, the Irish had about 75% possession and 80% territory in the first half, 3 try-scoring opportunities and 2 penalties. All Scotland managed to do was defend, I don't think they ever carried the ball past the half way line. Ireland should have been about 20 points ahead by half time.

Somehow (and I still don't quite understand how) they managed 3 points and missed the conversion of their second half try. Losing Jonathan Sexton to injury seems to have made a big difference to the Irish side and their scrum seems a bit weaker without Cian Healy who's still banned for that stamp against England. Scotland remembered they needed to attack and, while they never looked like they were going to score a try, put pressure on the Irish and took the penalties. 12-8 doesn't really do justice to such a tense game, especially the last 10 minutes or so.

France are in danger of getting the Wooden Spoon, especially if their coach continues taking all their best players off mid-match

Too old to give up but too young to rest - Pete Townshend

I would rather be a rising ape than a falling angel - Sir Terry Pratchett

I liked his explanation about what brought him to chemistry as much as the video itself - pieces o'nine

Anyone see the UFC this weekend? Ronda Rousey. It's one thing to have an undefeated champion, but it's gotta count for more when no fighter has ever gotten out of the first round without submitting to this chick. 7 fights, 7 first round submissions to arm-bar.

Granted, we're not talking Iron Mike starting 37-0, but I'm pretty sure at least a few of Mike's opponents managed not to beg for mercy in the first round.

I believe it's time for mankind to set aside the crutch of religion and embrace morality born of reason and truth. Those crutches have long since proven treacherous when the ground gets slippery.

Rainswept wrote:In Denver now and I have to figure out how to embrace a team with a name like "Nuggets"

You could follow baseball, but then instead of the name being the problem, you'd just have to deal with the Rockies being FSM-awful.

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

Rainswept wrote:In Denver now and I have to figure out how to embrace a team with a name like "Nuggets"

Might I suggest the Avalanche? At least they play hockey that looks like hockey. The hockey the Nuggets play doesn't look like hockey at all. Same thing with the Rockies, actually.

"Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens."("Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain.")-- Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805)Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.-- Philip K DickWhat happens when all the renewable energy runs out?-- Victoria AylingEnglish isn't much of a language for swearing. When I studied Ancient Greek I was delighted to discover a single word - Rhaphanidosthai - which translates roughly as "Be thou thrust up the fundament with a radish for adultery."

Cuba destroys China so bad in WBC game, they invoked the mercy rule in the 7th inning. That's something that normally doesn't happen past the high school level.

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

Another European upset at the World Baseball Classic: Italy beats Mexico 6-5 with a 2-run, ninth inning rally.

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré